A fragment of the ancient Greek epic the Odyssey has been identified after nearly seventy years in the library of the University of Utrecht. The fragment, measuring 6.6 by 7.7 cm, contains verses from the twelfth song of the Odyssey, describing a scene in which the sun god Helios demands an explanation after Odysseus' companions eat sacred cattle. The parchment was initially thought to be unremarkable but was recently recognized by Mark de Kreij, a specialist in ancient Greek and papyrology at Radboud University in Nijmegen. De Kreij identified characteristic words and phrases typical of the Homeric epics, confirming the fragment's origin. The document, known as Utrecht Gr. Ms. B6.39a, was identified about two years ago and officially announced on September 14, 2026. The fragment is believed to have come from a codex—a type of early book—that would have contained the entire Odyssey. Scholars estimate that this codex circulated in the oasis of Fayyum, Egypt, around the year 300 AD. Today, only a few dozen similar fragments of the Odyssey are known to exist, making this discovery particularly rare and valuable. The fragment was acquired by the University of Utrecht in 1956 as part of a collection from Carl Schmidt, a German Coptologist who specialized in the study of Coptic language and texts. This discovery coincides with a renewed global interest in Homer, partly inspired by Christopher Nolan’s recent adaptation of the Odyssey. The fragment will be included in a forthcoming publication by Mark de Kreij titled Hieratic, Demotic, Greek, and Coptic Texts in the Utrecht University Collection (P.Utr.), which aims to document and analyze ancient texts from the university's collection. The inclusion of this fragment highlights its importance in understanding the transmission and preservation of classical literature in the ancient world.